Conversion apparatus for textile fibers

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for converting a mass of textile filaments in the form of textile material waste, tangled thread waste or colddrawable continuous filaments of a synthetic polymer to a useful product comprising a forwarding means for slow feeding the filaments under a restrained condition to a rotatable substantially cylindrical open structure having a multiplicity of outwardly projecting filament-engaging needles mounted around the periphery of the structure and a number of combs having outwardly projecting teeth mounted around the periphery and spanning the structure.

United States Patent Fairfield 1 Apr. 4, 1972 [54] CONVERSION APPARATUSFOR 3,056,172 10/1962 Prentice et a1 ..19/96 TEXTILE FIBERS 495,4134/1893 Howarth et al. ..19/105 1,103,649 7/1914 Bates ..19/105 1Inventor: Hugh Fmrfleldr Omanor Canada 1,734,046 11/1929 Patz ..19/83[73] Assignee: Du Pont of Canada Limited, Montreal, FOREIGN PATENTS ORAPPLICATIONS Quebec, Canada 2,752 1864 Great Britain ..19/83 [22] Flled:my-21,1969 2,858 1853 Great Britain ....19/96 21 Appl 378 2 36,3629/1935 Netherlands ....l9/96 130,373 11/1959 U.S.S.R ..19/105 RelatedU.S. Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 751,272, Aug.8, fizg fisx 1968, abandoned, wh1ch 1s a contmuanon-in-part of Ser. NO.NOV. 28, abandoned. [52] us. Cl ..19/83 An apparatus f converting a m oftextile fil i h [51] Int. Cl. ..D01b 9/00 form of textile materialwaster tangled thread Waste of Cold- [58] Field 61 Search 19/82, 83,84,94, 96, 97, drawable continuous filaments of a Synthetic p y to a1189- 9 0 ful product comprising a forwarding means for slow feeding thefilaments under a restrained condition to a rotatable sub- [56]References Cited stantially cylindrical open structure having amultiplicity of outwardly projecting filament-engaging needles mountedUNITED STATES PATENTS around the periphery of the structure and a numberof combs having outwardly projecting teeth mounted around the 33,85212/1861 Sargent ..19/97 X periphery and Spanning the Structure. 237,3342/1881 Steere 1,891,132 12/1932 Arnold, Jr ..19/94 6 Claims, 5 DrawingFigures 5L 39 r37 19 4/ -38 2O 1 i 28 25 I6 52 4O 15 in m A I0 I Q 27 FJ v 26 3V a I r A |7 P'A 'TENTEDAPR 4 m2 3,653,094

SHEET 1 BF 2 INVENTOR Hugh 1. FAIRFIELD PATENT AGENT PATENTEDAPR 4 I9723,653,094

SHEET 2 BF 2 INVENTDR Hugh J. FAIRFIELD PATENT AGENT CONVERSIONAPPARATUS FOR TEXTILE FIBERS CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONSThis application is a Continuation-in-Part directed to subject matterdivided from copending application Ser. No. 75 1,272 filed Aug. 8, 1968,now abandoned which application was a Continuation-in-Part of thencopending application Ser. No. 597,263 filed Nov. 28, 1966 and nowabandoned.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an apparatus forconverting a mass of textile filaments to a usable product. Furthermore,this invention relates to an apparatus for converting undrawncolddrawable continuous filaments of a synthetic polymer todiscontinuous filaments having novel properties.

By the term cold-drawable" is meant filaments of any synthetic polymerwhich may be oriented by cold-drawing" as defined by Carothers in U.S.Pat. No. 2,071,250. Suitable types of polymers include polyamides,polyesters, polyethers, polyethylenes and polypropylenes. Furthermore,this invention relates to a process for converting undrawn or partiallydrawn waste material of cold-drawable synthetic polymer filaments to anovel product.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART The process of the conventional pickingmachine" which is used in the conversion of thread, knitted, and wovenwaste material to a fiber form, is more of a grinding process, and as inmost grinding processes, a great deal of heat is generated. With naturalfibers such as wool and cotton this process works well. If the naturalfiber becomes overheated, some of the material burns and chars to an ashwhich is readily dusted OK the remaining fiber, leaving it at worstsomewhat discoloured but still a useful product. However, with thedevelopment of synthetic fibres, the grinding process has not provedsuccessful. It has been found that the heat generated in the machinetends to melt the synthetic fibers, and on cooling, the fibers fusetogether into a mass which of course renders them useless.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention toprovide an apparatus suitable for converting textile material waste ortangled thread waste to a useful product. It is a further object of thepresent invention to provide an apparatus for converting wholly orpartly synthetic textile waste, in fabric or tangled form, to brokenfilaments without fusing. A further object of the present invention isto provide an apparatus for converting undrawn cold-drawable continuousfilaments of synthetic linear polymers to discontinuous filaments havingnovel properties.

With these and other objects in view, there is provided in a machine forconverting a mass of textile filaments selected from the groupconsisting of: textile material waste, tangled thread waste andcold-drawable continuous filaments of a synthetic polymer to a usefulproduct, comprising: a forwarding means adapted to advance said mass oftextile filaments at a low speed under a restrained condition, asubstantially cylindrical conversion assembly adjacent to saidforwarding means having joumalled mounting means, rotatable and opensupporting structure with a circular periphery radially connected tosaid mounting means, a multiplicity of outwardly projectingfilament-engaging needles mounted around said periphery and a number ofcombs mounted around said periphery spanning said supporting structure,said combs consisting essentially of a set of outwardly projectingteeth.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Other objects and advantages of thisinvention will become apparent from the following detailed descriptiontaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic side view illustrating a mass of textilefilaments being converted on an apparatus according to one embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective representation showing an apparatus of thepresent invention suitable for converting textile filaments to a usefulproduct.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective representation of one ofthe staves of the machine shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic side view illustrating one embodiment of adriving means for the feed amembly and cylinder of the machine shown inFIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic side view illustrating a further embodiment ofthe conversion process of FIG. 1 wherein steam is applied to the mass oftextile filaments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION Referring now to the drawings, inwhich similar reference characters denote like parts throughout, theinitial material, referred to as (A) in FIG. 1, may be a mass of textilefibers such as undrawn or partially drawn continuous filaments ofsynthetic polymers which are cold-drawable and may be in a tangled orrandom form. Undrawn continuous filaments in this context includepartially drawn continuous filaments that have large undrawn segmentsalong their length, or filaments that when converted by the process ofthis invention produce drawn discontinuous filaments having undrawnsegments randomly spaced along their lengths. Continuous filaments inthis context refer to filaments that have been spun continuously butneed not be in a continuous form when processed according to thisinvention. Waste filaments that have been cut from a bobbin ofcontinuously spun filaments may be processed by this method provided thecut filaments are long enough to be held between the forwarding andwithdrawing means. Continuous filaments may include bi-componentfilaments, cospun filaments, filaments from copolymers and filamentshaving varying cross-sections including trilobal shapes and dog boneshapes. The synthetic polymers may include polyester, polypropylene,nylon, polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl chloride and others. Nylon includespolyhexamethylene adipamide (nylon 66) and polycaprolactam (nylon 6).Polyester includes polyethylene terephthalate.

The mass of textile fibers may also be made from drawn continuousfilaments of cold-drawable synthetic polymers in the form of waste yarn,or a knitted, woven or non-woven waste. The mass may be wholly asynthetic fiber of one or more types or partly a synthetic fiber with anatural fiber such as wool or cotton.

The initial material, hereinafter referred to as the material ispreferably first lubricated by an antistatic or fibre lubricating agentor an emulsion of both. This lubrication may be carried out in severaldifferent ways, such as spraying a batch of filaments layer by layerwith a desired amount of lubricating agent or by an air pressure spraynozzle system (not shown) set up over the feed apron 10 of theconversion machine. In the latter case the antistatic lubricating agentis sprayed on the material in the desired quantity as it passes underthe nozzle.

The conversion machine shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is supported on a mountingstructure 11 which may be of any desired form and includes an elongatedconveyor or feed apron 10. There are two main features to the machine.Firstly, the essentially cylindrical structure, hereinafter referred toas the cylinder 25, so constructed as to subject a tangled mass offilaments to a segregating and stretching process as it is beingreleased slowly under restraint.

A large volume of air created by the fan-like action of the cylinder 25passes through the cylinder cooling the filaments being segregated andstretched. As explained more fully hereinafter, the cylinder is rotatingat a relatively high speed. A multitude of needles mounted on theperiphery of the cylinder pick up filaments from the restrained tangledmass, and as the needles continue to rotate with the cylinder thesefilaments are segregated, aligned one to the other and stretched. Whilebeing stretched the filaments are pulled to the base of the needles,partly by the position of the needles on the cylinder, and partly bysuction caused by the fan-like action of the cylinder. When tight to thebase of the needles, combs mounted on the periphery of the cylinder combthe filaments.

The filaments of the material are simultaneously stretched at a highspeed and randomly crimped. They are then broken or severed intovariable lengths. The second feature is the material feeding andmetering means, hereinafter referred to as the feed roll assembly 12,whereby first a set of fluted rolls and then several Garnett wirecovered feed rolls meter the material to the cylinder 25 whilerestraining the cylinder 25 from jerking or pulling the material.

Positioned upon the mounting structure 11 is the feed roll assembly 12including upper and lower fluted feed rolls, l3 and 14, which extendtransversely across the mounting structure 11 and are located at the endof the feed apron in such a position that the material (A) coming offthe feed apron 10 is fed between the two rolls, 13 and 14. The rolls 13and 14 are journalled to rotate within the conventional housings 15, theupper roll 13 being biased downward by the springs 16. The purpose ofthese fluted feed rolls is to meter the flow of material through themachine and to ensure that the flow is comparatively even.

The material leaving the fluted feed rolls l3 and 14 is picked up by thelower Garnett wire covered feed roll 17. Garnett wire or metallicclothing as it is sometimes referred to in the trade, is a saw toothedpointed wire. The rolls are spirally grooved around the cylindricalsurface. The groove in each roll is preferably /a of an inch deep andspaced from about H1 6 to 54 of an inch apart depending on the gauge andsize of the wire. The Garnett wire fits in the groove in a continuousspiral wound around the roll. The wire may be held tightly in place bydeforming the metal on the roll between the grooves so that it grips thewire in the groove. Garnett wire is obtainable in many gauges, and aheavy gauge wire, such as number 10 gauge, is preferred for clothing therolls in the feed assembly. The teeth on the Garnett wire point in sucha way that the material is held and prevented from being pulled orjerked into the cylinder 25. Thus as the feed rolls rotate, the materialis metered to the cylinder 25 at a relatively slow rate.

After being collected by the lower roll 17 the material is passed underthe first upper Garnett wire covered roll 18 which is channeled torotate within conventional housings 19. This roll 18 is biased downwardby the springs 20. The clearance between the wire tips of the upper roll18 and the lower roll 17 is in the order of H16 inch to 1% inch, but ifan excessive amount of material moves between these two rolls the upperroll 18 moves up against the springs 20 and the clearance increases. Thematerial then continues on around the circumference of the lower roll 17and under a second upper Garnett wire covered roll 21 having the sameclearance as the first upper roll 18 from the lower roll 17 andchanneled to rotate within conventional housings 22. A further Garnettwire covered roll 23 known as a clearing roll is mounted above thesecond upper roll 21 located such that the clearance between the secondupper roll 21 and the clearing roll 23 is approximately l/l6 inch to 41inch. This spacing between roll 21 and roll 23 remains constant,however, the bearing housings are joined together to allow the secondupper roll 21 and the clearing roll 23 to move vertically upwardsagainst springs 24, thus the clearance between the second upper roll 21and the lower roll 17 increases.

There is considerable pull or drag on the material when the filamentsare being stretched by the high speed rotation of the cylinder 25. TheGarnett wire on the feed rolls 17, 18 and 21 has the teeth pointing inthe direction opposite to rotation, so the material is held orrestrained by the Garnett wire whilst this pull is being exerted, andfed to the cylinder 25 as the feed rolls rotate. The clearing roll 23rotates in the same direction as the second upper roll 21 but has theGarnett wire teeth pointing in the direction of travel for material (A).

All these rolls are driven by a conventional means such as thatillustrated in FIG. 4. In this specific embodiment, a 2 HP motor 42drives the lower roll 17 through a worm gear reduction box 43 and achain drive 44. The chain sprockets can be changed to vary the feedspeed. The lower fluted feed roll 14 is driven by a chain drive 45 fromthe lower roll 17. There is no direct drive to the upper fluted feedroll 13 which, as shown in FIG. 4, is driven by the meshing of the upperfluted feed roll with the lower fluted feed roll 14, or, as shown inFIG. 1, by the action of the material (A) squeezed between the upperfeed roll 13 and the lower feed roll 14. A further chain drive 46 fromthe lower fluted feed roll 14 drives the feed apron 10. A large gear 47on the lower roll 17 drives a gear 48 on the first upper Garnett wirecovered roll 18 and a gear 49 on the second upper Garnett wire coveredroll 21. The clearing roll 23 is driven from a chain drive 50 from thesecond upper Garnett wire covered roll 21.

The peripheral speed of Garnett feed rolls 17, 18, 21 and 23 isidentical, and a little faster than the speed of the fluted rolls 13 and14. This is to enable the feed roll 17 to readily pick up the materialas it is released from the fluted rolls l3 and 14. In one embodiment ofthe machine, the fluted rolls l3 and 14 and the upper rolls 18, 21 and23 are all 4 inch diameter rolls and the lower roll 17 is 8 inchdiameter. The purpose of clearing roll 23, which is mounted at aconstant distance from the second upper roll 21, is to clear the secondupper roll 21 of any material which may wrap itself around the roll. Thematerial leaving between the lower roll 17 and the second upper roll 21is picked up by the cylinder 25.

The cylinder 25 is supported by a main shaft 26 journalled in a bearingassembly 27 supported on the mounting structure 11. Regularly disposedabout or connected to shaft 26 is the cylindrical structure generallyreferred to as the cylinder 25. This structure comprises a pair ofspaced end plates 28 adjacent the bearings 27. These end plates 28 arepreferably formed of half inch steel plate and are provided withenlarged openings 29 to allow air to enter the cylinder 25 andsubsequently be blown out by the fan-like action of the cylinder. As maybe seen in FIG. 3 between the end plates 28 are spaced one or moreintermediate plates 30. The latter are similar in construction to endplates 28 and also have enlarged openings of the type shown at 29 inFIG. 1. The intermediate plates are suitably keyed or otherwise attachedto shaft 26. The perimeter 31 is also the perimeter of the cylinder 25.

Rim bands 32 which may be in the order of 3 inches wide and b inchthick, are preferably welded to the peripheries of the end plates 28,and also the peripheries of the intermediate plates 30 so that thecylinder 25 may be said to take the form of an open drum or spider.Extending transversely between the end plates 28 and secured by means ofthe aforesaid rim bands 32 are staves 33. On a cylinder 25 of some 30inches in diameter such staves are preferably made of steel as to V2inch thick, about 1% to 2 inches wide and in the order of from about itto 1 inch apart.

The cylinder rotates in the direction of the arrow in the accompanyingFIG. 1 at a speed which has been found preferably to be between 550 and1,500 rpm. The optimum r.p.m. varies considerably according to thematerial being processed. In any event, a 30 inch diameter cylinderrotating at 750 r.p.m. provides a rim speed in the vicinity of some6,000 feet/minute. It has been found that a peripheral speed ofapproximately 4,000 12,000 feet/minute is preferable, although speedsoutside this range are operable. The cylinder 25 is drivenconventionally at a speed which may be varied according to the materialbeing processed but however is kept relatively constant while a specificmaterial is passing through the machine. In the embodiment shown in FIG.4, a 40 HP motor 51 drives the 30 inch diameter cylinder 12 by means ofa V-belt drive 52. The pulley sizes may be changed in order to vary thespeed of the cylinder.

Upon the staves 33 are two or more rows but preferably three or fourrows of primary needles 34. These are illustrated in FIG. 3. The needlesare inclined towards the direction of rotation or the direction oftravel preferably at an angle of some 45. These needles are preferablysome 1% inches long and spaced about A inch to 1 inch apart. Upon theleading edge of each stave 33 is a comb 35, having thereon a set ofoutwardly projecting teeth 36 and such teeth may desirably be some or 12to the inch and about inch deep from tip to trough.

As a preferred embodiment, the projecting teeth 36 on the comb 35 aresaw tooth in shape and slant in one direction. The combs are thenmounted so that the teeth on the first comb slant in one direction andthe comb 35 mounted on the next stave 33 has teeth slanting in theopposite direction and so on around the periphery of the cylinder 25. Ithas been found that the combs may desirably be formed from No. 10 bandhacksaw blade stock in which the teeth are sharp, slanting in onedirection, and function well to comb, shred fabric and aid instretching, crimping and breaking filaments.

It may be found desirable to mount an additional comb 35 on the trailingedge of each or some of the staves 33 or even to mount the comb 35 onthe trailing edge rather than the leading edge of the staves 33.

Surrounding the cylinder 25, and spaced from the tips of the needles 34,there is a casing 37 of general volute configuration and havingenclosing side portions 38. The casing terminates at a longitudinal edge39 to permit a draft of air to be drawn into the casing 37 aboveclearing roll 23, and between the end plates 28. Air intake openings 40are also provided in the sides 38 of casing 37 around the bearingassembly 27. By virtue of the downward pressure of air entering throughthe intake mouth below the casing edge 39, material which is passingover the rotating cylinder 25 is sucked down towards the base of theneedles 34. It may also be stated that the feed roll assembly 12 maypreferably be capable of adjustment to left or right with respect to theaccompanying FIG. 1, that is to say, closer to the cylinder 25 orfurther away from it toward the feed conveyor 10 according tocircumstances and the nature of the product being processed. With thestaves 33 set apart from about to 1 inch and the provision of the airintake opening below the casing edge 39 it will be apparent that thestaves 33, needles 34 and combs 35 rotating at a high speed induce alarge flow of air within the casing and an air current of considerablevelocity carries off the end product (B) through the volute dischargeexit 41 of the casing 37.

In operation, the material (A) is spread out evenly on the feed apron10. When the material leaves the feed apron 10 it is picked up by thetwo fluted rolls l3 and 14. These rolls are to meter the material, andthey also aid in guiding, holding and pressing the material. Leaving thefluted rolls l3 and 14, the material is picked up by the lower Garnettwire covered feed roll 17 and passed between the lower roll 17 and thetwo upper Garnett wire covered feed rolls 18 and 21. To prevent pullingor jerking through the feed rolls and to present the material in an evenand regular flow, this special feed roll assembly 12 is required. Thefeed roll assembly 12 provides two functions, the first is tocontinuously forward the material at a low speed to the cylinder 25 andthe second is to restrain the material while it is being withdrawn bythe cylinder 25. It has been found that once the material commencesfeeding through the feed assembly 12 and is picked up by the cylinder 25the power driving the feed rolls is required to prevent the feed rollsrotating too fast.

After leaving the feed roll assembly 12 the material is withdrawn by theslanted sharp pointed needles 34 in the staves 33. The material isslowly released by the feed roll assembly 12 at the rate of 6 l2feet/minute. Opening needles 34, catch the material, pierce it, andproceed to randomly separate, straighten and pull the filaments forwardover the face of the cylinder 25. Through this pulling motion, filamentson the cylinder are randomly stretched. When the material is in the formof knitted or woven waste, the needles pick at this waste, and separateit into individual filaments, which are straightened and stretched.

When the material comprises a mass of undrawn continuous filaments of acold-drawable synthetic polymer, this stretching action draws thefilaments. The stretching action, however, is a random one, consequentlysome filaments stretch until they break, and others are only partiallydrawn before being broken, thus forming undrawn segments randomly spacedalong the length of the filaments. Heat is developed during the drawingof the filaments and this is dispersed by the fan-like action of therotating cylinder which forces a large volume of air through thefilaments on the cylinder.

As shown in FIGS. 3-5, the teeth 36 project radially outwardly beyondthe combs 35. With continued rotation of the cylinder, the filaments arepulled down to the base of the pointed needles 34, aided by the suctionfrom the fan-like action of the rotating cylinder. The filaments thencome in contact with the secondary teeth 36 on the combs 35. The teeth36 perform a combing action on the filaments while being stretchedaround the cylinder.

When the material comprises a mass of undrawn continuous filaments, itappears that these secondary teeth aid in placing a crimp in thecontinuous filaments as the stretching steps pull short sections of thefilaments across the secondary teeth 36 which act as knife edges. Theresulting discontinuous filaments have crimps in random directionsspaced randomly along their length. These teeth also appear to toughenthe surface of the filaments so they have rough surface segments similarto wool.

The cylinder rotates, and the continuous filaments eventually break. Thebreaking action appears to vary from one filament to the next. Somefilaments are stretched to their limit and break with a snapping actionwhich at this high speed causes the ends of the filaments to recoil andform crimps such as hooks or curls. Other filaments may be broken by asevering action from the secondary teeth 36. Some filaments appear tohave ragged ends as though they have been broken by crushing. The brokenfilaments are then propelled away from the machine by the flow of airinduced by the cylinder 25 in the casing 37 and blown into a batch roomor condenser where the air is separated from the filaments.

In the case of the initial material being a mass of undrawn continuousfilaments of a cold-drawable synthetic polymer, strong filaments, suchas nylon, can easily be drawn approximately half way round the cylinderbefore they break. It has been shown that discontinuous filamentsproduced by this method vary in length up to approximately 28 inches.

It has been found that the relationship between the cylinder speed andthe feed speed is important. If the feed speed is a certain ratio of thecylinder speed, then this ratio should preferably be maintainedregardless of any change in either cylinder speed or feed speed. If theinitial material is undrawn continuous filaments of a cold-drawablesynthetic polymer and the peripheral speed of the cylinder 25 is reducedmuch below 4,000 feet/minute, then the filaments tend to wrap themselvesaround the cylinder and are not broken or blown out with the brokenfilaments. The average length of filament produced may be varied bychanging the ratio between the feed speed and the cylinder speed.

In the case of continuous filaments, it has been found that one passthrough the conversion machine may not always be sufi'lcient to producea satisfactory product. Therefore, it is sometimes necessary to have twoor more passes through the machine to avoid problems in furtherprocessing the material. For a two pass system, two machines may be setup in tandem, the first machine blowing the broken filaments into acondenser which releases the air, and allows the filaments to drop ontothe apron of the second machine.

Some of the discontinuous filaments produced by this machine fromcontinuous filaments of a cold-drawable synthetic polymer areexcessively long, and need further processing to take advantage of theirfull potential as a useful product. The majority of machines for theprocessing of staple fibre into spun yarns can only take staple fiber oflimited length. The discontinuous filaments of this invention may befurther processed through a conventional type Garnetting machine orcarding machine. The discontinuous filaments are taken off the finalGarnet or card roll, put into a sliver or roving, and coiled in a largecan or put on a balling machine and wound into a large ball. Thediscontinuous filaments in the sliver or roving form are then fed into agilling machine or pin drafter to align the filaments. When thefilaments are aligned one to the other they may be passed through aprecision staple cutting machine and cut to the desired maximum lengths.

Some of the synthetic undrawn continuous filaments are very tender andbrittle, and to convert them to a good usable product a fair amount ofheat must be applied directly to the continuous filaments while beingdrawn. This heat may be applied by a hot fluid such as steam or hot airdirectly onto the mass of continuous filaments, or by means of a heatedelement such as an electrically heated element in one or more of thefeed rolls or by other well known heating devices while the mass ofcontinuous filaments is being forwarded at a low speed and withdrawn ata high speed.

Polyethylene terephthalate continuous filaments in an undrawn conditionare tender and quite brittle. When a moist heat such as steam is applieddirectly to the filaments, they can be drawn readily and in the drawingthe filaments gain considerable strength. To process undrawnpolyethylene terephthalate continuous filaments live steam may beapplied through pipes directly to the material. As may be seen in FIG.5, a steam pipe 53 is placed between the feed rolls 13, 17 and 18 and asecond steam pipe 54 is placed between the feed roll 21, and the maincylinder 25. In this embodiment, the clearing roll 23 is removed, andthe steam pipe takes the place of the clearing roll 23. Steam from thepipe 54 blows on the feed roll 21 and acts as a cleaner to remove anyfibrous matter sticking to feed roll 21. The steam pipes 53 and 54 runfrom one end of the feed rolls to the other. The pipes have a series ofsmall holes in rows about inch apart. Steam is blown onto the materialas it emerges from the fluted feed rolls 13 and 14, proceeds over thelower roll 17, between the first upper roll 18 and the lower roll 17,between the second upper roll 21 and the lower roll 17 and as thematerial is being picked up by the needles 34 of the cylinder 25.Because the filaments of polyethylene terephthalate are found to betender to this process the speed of rotation of the cylinder 25 ispreferably reduced to between 600 and 750 rpm. With the addition ofsteam jets or other types of heating, undrawn continuous filamentpolyethylene terephthalate can be converted from weak, tender, brittleundrawn continuous filaments to discontinuous filaments of good strengthand cohesive qualities.

MODE OF OPERATION OF INVENTION Example 1 Undrawn nylon 66 continuousfilament tangled waste, which when drawn would give 3 denier perfilament, was prepared by the addition of a lubricant comprising a fiberlubricating oil emulsified with water. The conversion machine had acylinder of 30 inches in diameter. Twenty staves were equally spacedaround the circumference of the cylinder, and each stave had 340 to 350needles, 1% inches long. A comb having 12 teeth per inch was mounted onthe trailing edge of each stave making a total of combs.

The prepared material was fed through the feed roll assembly at asurface speed of 6%. feet per minute and picked up by the needles of thecylinder rotating at 880 r.p.m., equivalent to a surface speed of 6,900feet per minute. Two passes were made through the conversion machine,followed by two passes through a conventional Garnetting machine. Theresulting product was in the form of a sliver.

Example 2 Waste nylon 66 drawn tire cord in the form of a plied yarn wasprepared by the addition of a lubricant comprising a fibre lubricatingoil emulsified with water. The conversion machine had a cylinder 30inches in diameter. Twenty staves were equally spaced around thecircumference of the cylinder, and each stave had 340 to 350 needles. Acomb having i2 teeth per inch was mounted on the trailing edge of eachstav making a total of 20 12 teeth per inch combs and a comb having 10teeth per inch was mounted on the leading edge of every other stavemaking a total of 10 l0 teeth per inch combs.

The prepared material was fed through the feed roll assembly at asurface speed of 6% feet per minute and picked up by the needles of thecylinder rotating at 880 r.p.m., equivalent to a surface speed of 6,900feet per minute. The material was passed once through the conversionmachine, followed by one pass through a conventional Garnetting machine.The resulting product was in the form of a sliver.

The resulting product was in broken filament form having varying lengthand random crimps along the length. When gilled and cut to staplelengths, the product compared favorably with other waste producer nylon66 staple fibers.

Example 3 ORLON acrylic drawn continuous filament fiber in regular formwas prepared by the addition of a lubricant as in Example 2. Theconversion machine used in the test had a cylinder of 30 inches indiameter. Thirty staves were equally spaced around the circumference ofthe cylinder, and each stave had needles. A comb having 10 teeth perinch was mounted on the leading edge of each stave making a total of 30combs.

The prepared material was fed through the feed roll assembly at asurface speed of 6% feet per minute and picked up by the needles of thecylinder rotating at 950 rpm, equivalent to a surface speed of 7,400feet per minute. The material was passed once through the conversionmachine, followed by one pass through a conventional Gametting machine.The resulting product was in the form of a sliver.

The resulting product was similar to that produced in Example l.

I claim:

1. In a machine for converting textile waste to threaded form, and fromthreaded form to fibers, a substantially cylindrical fabric reducingassembly, feed means for feeding said waste to said assembly andassociated drive means, said assembly comprising, in combination, (i)journalled mounting means, (ii) a rotatable and open supportingstructure having a circular perimeter radially connected to saidmounting means, (iii) a plurality of textile-opening andthread-shredding staves around said perimeter, spanning said supportingstructure, said staves each having mounted thereon at least twostaggered rows of outwardly projecting, fabric-opening needles, and (iv)a comb on at least one edge of each of said staves, said comb consistingessentially of a set of outwardly projecting, thread-shredding teeth,said feed means including wire covered feed rolls, said drive meansbeing coupled to said wire covered rolls and to said open supportingstructure for their rotation at respectively low and high speeds, saidwire covered rolls being situated adjacent the perimeter of saidreducing as sembly for holding said waste tightly to release it slowlytoward said reducing assembly against the relatively highspeed pull ofsaid needles and combs.

2. The invention according to claim 1 in which said needles incline inthe direction of rotation of said supporting structure, said combs areradially disposed on the leading edges of the staves and said needlesproject radially outwardly beyond said combs.

3. The invention according to claim 2 in which (i) said assembly isprovided with a casing, said casing being substantially volute andembracing at least the upper perimeter of said reducing assembly andbeing slightly spaced therefrom, (ii) said casing being spaced from saidmounting means to permit the admission of air through said opensupporting structure, and (iii) said supporting structure being in theform of a pair of circular end plates, having air admitting openingstherein, intermediate plates at intervals between said end-plates, and

rim-bands around the perimeter of said plates, said staves spanning saidrim-bands, said casing having a volute discharge exit beneath saidjoumalled mounting means.

4. A machine for converting a mass of textile filaments selected fromthe group consisting of: textile material waste, tangled thread wasteand cold-drawable continuous filaments of a synthetic polymer to auseful product, said machine comprising:

a forwarding means adapted to advance said mass of textile filaments ata low speed under a restrained condition,

a substantially cylindrical conversion assembly adjacent to saidforwarding means having joumalled mounting means, rotatable and opensupporting structure with a circular periphery radially connected tosaid mounting means, a multiplicity of outwardly projectingfilament-engaging needles mounted in groups of staggered rows aroundsaid periphery and at least one comb spanning said supporting structureadjacent each group of needles, said combs consisting essentially of aset of outwardly projecting teeth,

drive means coupled to said supporting structure for its rotation at avery high surface speed relative to the speed at which said mass oftextile filaments is forwarded thereto, and a casing substantiallyenclosing said conversion assembly,

the high speed rotation of said conversion assembly creating a flow ofair through said casing, said casing presenting an air-intake opening inthe region between said forwarding means and said conversion assemblyand having a volute discharge exit for converted fibers beneath saidjoumalled mounting means, said forwarding means including wire coveredfeed rolls closely adjacent the periphery of said conversion assemblyfor holding said filaments tightly and releasing them slowly toward saidconversion assembly against the high speed pull of said needles andcombs.

5. The invention according to claim 4 in which said supporting structurehas a set of staves around said periphery spanning said supportingstructure, each stave mounting one group of outwardly projectingfabric-opening needles and a comb on at least one edge thereof.

6. The machine according to claim 4 in which a means for heating saidmass of textile filaments is provided in said forwarding means.

1. In a machine for converting textile waste to threaded form, and fromthreaded form to fibers, a substantially cylindrical fabric reducingassembly, feed means for feeding said waste to said assembly andassociated drive means, said assembly comprising, in combination, (i)journalled mounting means, (ii) a rotatable and open supportingstructure having a circular perimeter radially connected to saidmounting means, (iii) a plurality of textile-opening andthread-shredding staves around said perimeter, spanning said supportingstructure, said staves each having mounted thereon at least twostaggered rows of outwardly projecting, fabric-opening needles, and (iv)a comb on at least one edge of each of said staves, said comb consistingessentially of a set of outwardly projecting, thread-shredding teeth,said feed means including wire covered feed rolls, said drive meansbeing coupled to said wire covered rolls and to said open supportingstructure for their rotation at respectively low and high speeds, saidwire covered rolls being situated adjacent the perimeter of saidreducing assembly for holding said waste tightly to release it slowlytoward said reducing assembly against the relatively high-speed pull ofsaid needles and combs.
 2. The invention according to claim 1 in whichsaid needles incline in the direction of rotation of said supportingstructure, said combs are radially disposed on the leading edges of thestaves and said needles project radially outwardly beyond said combs. 3.The invention according to claim 2 in which (i) said assembly isprovided with a casing, said casing being substantially volute andembracing at least the upper perimeter of said reducing assembly andbeing slightly spaced therefrom, (ii) said casing being spaced from saidmounting means to permit the admission of air through said opensupporting structure, and (iii) said supporting structure being in theform of a pair of circular end plates, having air admitting openingstherein, intermediate plates at intervals between said end-plates, andrim-bands around the perimeter of said plates, said staves spanning saidrim-bands, said casing having a volute discharge exit beneath saidjournalled mounting means.
 4. A machine for converting a mass of textilefilaments selected from the group consisting of: textile material waste,tangled thread waste and cold-drawable continuous filaments of asynthetic polymer to a useful product, said machine comprising: aforwarding means adapted to advance said mass of textile filaments at alow speed under a restrained condition, a substantially cylindricalconversion assembly adjacent to said forwarding means having journalledmounting means, rotatable and open supporting structure with a circularperiphery radially connected to said mounting means, a multiplicity ofoutwardly projecting filament-engaging needles mounted in groups ofstaggered rows around said periphery and at least one comb spanning saidsupporting structure adjacent each group of needles, said combsconsisting essentially of a set of outwardly projecting teeth, drivemeans couPled to said supporting structure for its rotation at a veryhigh surface speed relative to the speed at which said mass of textilefilaments is forwarded thereto, and a casing substantially enclosingsaid conversion assembly, the high speed rotation of said conversionassembly creating a flow of air through said casing, said casingpresenting an air-intake opening in the region between said forwardingmeans and said conversion assembly and having a volute discharge exitfor converted fibers beneath said journalled mounting means, saidforwarding means including wire covered feed rolls closely adjacent theperiphery of said conversion assembly for holding said filaments tightlyand releasing them slowly toward said conversion assembly against thehigh speed pull of said needles and combs.
 5. The invention according toclaim 4 in which said supporting structure has a set of staves aroundsaid periphery spanning said supporting structure, each stave mountingone group of outwardly projecting fabric-opening needles and a comb onat least one edge thereof.
 6. The machine according to claim 4 in whicha means for heating said mass of textile filaments is provided in saidforwarding means.